Cursed with Ungrace
by Nameless Fabler
Summary: Sometimes the world pleasures itself by tormenting the good, at least, that was what Gray was led to believe. And now they are on a journey to right that wrong before it becomes permanent, or worst, she may start to her new gender. Fem!Gray one-sided NaLi GraTus
1. Chapter 1

A shape under the sheets moved and mumbled gibberish. It was a girl, as naked as the day when she was born, who lifted her upper body and yawned, stretching her arms until she opened her bronze eyes to the blaring sunlight. The silk sheets slide off her body, wrapping itself around her lower half.

Though her memories were muddied, there was a single thought that darted through her mind like a lightning rod; she felt abnormal. Is this the feeling that someone felt before a dilemma crashes into their life, or did she sleep on the wrong side of the bed?

There was no answer she could give herself, so she lifted herself from the bed and stretched her limbs once more until she felt the overnight tension released. The morning draft, coming from the opened window, sent chills down her bare back.

This was when she noticed her predicament.

Currently, there were two reasonable-sized mounts of skin jostling from the chest area. For others, this may not be vexing, rather thinking of it as a blessing, but for this one particular human, this was indeed alarming; because Gray acquired different parts that did not suit his fancy at all. Last night, Gray had a reasonable-sized tang and a pair between his legs, yet there was only a vacant space, and he never in his life had breasts either, unless if his mother kept him in the dark about it.

Gray squealed at the sight of herself in the reflection, sending the birds in the nearby trees into the sky, and scurried into the bathroom. Luckily the mirror hadn't shattered yet.

…

The guild mates kept a distance away from a certain member, who only seemed to know how to groan and sigh every other second. The only one that would approach him, other than an Exceed who seemed to have vanished that moment, was Cana.

She flopped herself into the chair across from him, and without an inch of grace, asked, "Finally lost your virginity?" This may or may not be her version of "What's wrong?" Therefore, it's an incorrect translation on our part.

There was a chorus of moans coming from behind her, and this only confused the boy moreso. He perked his head up and looked at her as though she changed appearance. "Why did you say?"

Cana sighed, gaining a glare from Macao; who should have probably approached the boy in the first place instead of allowing the foul-mouth twat to do so. Then she faked a concern face and started asking him all kinds of questions. "Are you having lady problems? Can't get it up? Ass bruised? First time didn't live up to your expectations? Or just tender that Lucy left your jackass behind?"

"What the hell?!" This was all that the boy could muster up; since half of those questions were nonsense to him.

Finally, Macao stepped in, he couldn't allow this tragedy go on any longer, and laid a hand on Cana's shoulder to tell her that was enough, that she could go back to her barrels. She only leaned the chair back and shrugged, yet she did not move. Like the others, she was a little keen to hear what was causing Natsu's obnoxious mood; even though she was making it worse by staying there.

"Natsu, did something happen?" The look that Macao gave Natsu was one that a grandfather would give to his young grandchild.

Natsu opened up, nodding. Now everyone was leaning in to hear this. "Oh, yeah. I got ripped off on my reward."

They fell from their chairs; even Cana did when she kicked the table upwards and she fell backwards. "ARE YOU SERIOUS?!" Like the whimpers from earlier, this was all in a complete chorus. This was only something that Natsu could do, even without meaning to.

Macao was the only one still standing, shaking his head and cursing those above. He didn't need this at all. "Did it matter THAT much?" For once, he was hoping that Natsu was only pulling on their legs to see their reactions.

But Natsu was completely serious, "Old Hag promised me that it was the greatest thing in the world, that I would be hunted down by bounty hunters for it."

"And?"

"It was a stupid wind-up toy."

Macao's shoulders fell and he could feel some of his hair losing its color. "Some people are cheap. We will deny all future requests from that p-"

"So it was a lady problem! I had it in the bag!" Cana lifted herself off of the ground and slammed her fist down at the broke piece of the table. She smirked right at Macao as though she actually affected the outcome at all.

Everyone could feel the strains forming between Cana and Macao. It was like a rivalry between the two.

"Guys!" Max placed himself between the two, "It's pointless now." Both of them were confused for a moment until they saw Natsu grinning like an idiot. Their goal was accomplished and they took a step back, but their eye contact between each other sent a different message. There will be a next time, and I'll win.

The sandy haired man shook his head in shame over the two 'adults'. "Come on, guys, light up."

A girl with pigtails stood in the corner of the bar, finding mindless tasks to keep herself busy, but she paid attention to the drama on the main floor. None of them really paid her much attention, as it was a slow day at the guild, and no one really wanted to do anything. She handed out drinks with a petite smile.

Now the guild was back to its normal rowdiness; it felt just like home. It was a sad fact that half of the guild was gone, but that doesn't mean that the guild should remain lifeless until they got back. It only meant that they had a better reason to act out; there were no rules or anything to worry about.

Natsu finally got up from his table and waltz over to the bar, leaning over it as he called out for a drink.

Lisanna, the girl with pigtails, spoke out in a singsong tone, "Of course, Naty-" Her mouth jerked shut so fast that she almost bit the tip of her tongue. Natsu glanced up at her, but she only looked away and examined the shapes of the bottles while pouring him a cup. When he was far away, she didn't feel this gravitational pull, yet it consumed her.

She did not feel like herself.

The girl turned around and pressed the cup forward, into Natsu's waiting hands. At that exact moment, the doors slammed open and sunlight from outside erupted into the mainhall, blinding all who was near, revealing a young woman who was likely on her period at the movement; because she was raging the moment that she walked into the guild.

Cana and Natsu rose up to meet her in the middle, because this newcomer appeared like she came for a fight. "Business?" Cana muttered through closed teeth.

The others stood up at well, arms crossed, and waited for an answer. Macao took his place between the stranger and Cana. "Welcome to Fairy Tail," he offered a stern greeting, "If you have a request, you can kindly speak with me in the back. If you have other business, then I'll assure you, the guild master is out, so you will have to come back at a later time."

The doors closed, taking away all of the light with it, and allowed them to see her soft features. She had high cheek bones, causing her lips to appear wider than normally. Her midnight-colored eyes were slanted; could it be because she was glaring or was that natural? Dark blue locks hung around her shoulders, and two strands of hair were covering her right eye. Below, she wore men's clothing that sagged against her muscular figure.

She took a deep breath, realizing her anger was misplaced, and responded, "I've been cursed."

Max, who was astonished from her appearance, took notice of that familiar necklace that glinted from the soft light within the room. Only Reedus seemed to notice Max's odd gesture.

The replacement guild master only nodded and waved her closer to him. "This is an important matter indeed, and I will see what can be done."

"Macao," the girl spoke out.

He raised his eyebrows, slightly confused by her awareness. She made it sound like the two knew each other, yet he did not have a single memory of her; or was she that one night stand that was filled with boozes and vomit? No, it couldn't be; she was far too young for a grampa like him, and unlike his other night lovers, she didn't confront him shamefully.

"It's me, Gray." Her voice seemed to crack when she said that.

Sake sprayed across the room from the sudden revelation. Natsu practically tripped over thin air and jerked upwards. "Not a chance in hell that you're Ice Stripper!"

"I just admitted it, Tabasco Idiot, I've been cursed! I've been turned into a girl!" She gestured to her new body with utmost spite.

Everyone started chattering to themselves over these matters. The pink haired jumped the distance between them and raised his finger at her. "There's no freakin' way!" He gritted his teeth, "Who the hell are you and why are you lying, Scumbag?!"

"I don't have to say it again, Flame Brain! Can't you allow one single thought across your mind before you forget?! I've answered your questions, truthfully; I mean, why the heck would I lie? I woke up this morning like this!" She waved her arms down at her figure, "I have no clue in hell what the fuck happened, but this is the result!"

Natsu was still in denial, while others were just as confused. The boy knew Gray well, and just having a girl show up and claiming to be his childhood rival was only grinding on Natsu's nerves. "If you're Gray, then tell me, what happened on Galuna Island?"

She knew exactly what he was talking about, and waved her hand about, "I was rash, okay? And you stopped it before anything could happen."

"What was it?"

"A death wish."

"Stop being vague!"

Macao placed his arm between the two, "Let's settle this once and for all. Girl, show us your guild mark."

She placed her hand on the end of her tank top and instantaneously blushed, "I can't."

"Why not?"

"It's on my breast, you freakin' perv."

It was now Macao's turn to redden; he stared at the ground and twirled his thumbs. "Alright… Cana, go check."

"Eh, fine by me," the brunette rose up and escorted Gray into the back. Moments later, the two reentered the room with Gray blushing harder than before. Cana nodded at Macao, "Cleared; no mistaken, it's a guild mark."

"You didn't have to fondle it," Gray mumbled under her breath.

"Just checkin' if those were the real deal as well."

Natsu was still protesting against it. "That just means that she's a guild member!"

"Oh, so you're Wendy-chan who somehow gotten cursed with an aging potion, changing the spot of your mark, and no reason at all, claiming to be Gray? Or are you Levy-san, who finally grew some and began pouncing around with a profane vocab, and somehow managed to dye your hair darker and move your guild mark?"

"Could be!" Natsu shouted; not ready yet to let this topic die down. But now it was oblivious that everyone was starting to believe this stranger over him, and he was out of any evidence against that claim now that she shown several features that were attributed to Gray.

Cana shook her head at him. "Only Ever has her guild mark there, and one thing for sure, this isn't Evergreen. Gray, use your magic or something, maybe which will get through his mind for once." It wasn't that Cana was against Natsu, but she saw herself that this girl was Gray, and the argument didn't seemed to lose its force; all she wanted now was to sit back down and drink, and maybe even probe Gray some more.

And the girl submitted. She brought her hands together and created a long spike out of clear ice. With a quick spiteful glance at Natsu, she shattered it with a simple touch and the pieces were sweep away with the wind.

He shook his head and headed back to the bar; sulking. Now Lisanna couldn't help it, and came adjacent to him, with a drink in her hand. There was no discussion between them as she slid the drink across and headed towards Max's table. She didn't even think she could talk to him while he was in this foul mood.

Macao went up to Gray and simply assumed, "Head to Porlyusica-san. She has dealt with curses before, maybe she can undo this."

And with that Gray nodded.

 **Hello everyone! I've been working on this story for months, and I'm currently editing all of the latter chapters, as well as writing the ending. Because of how close it was, I figured why not just start publishing it, since I have no doubts that I can get it completed with no troubles. At the moment, there should be six chapters (then again, I'm not the best when it comes to counting chapters).**

 **Expect the following chapters on Sundays, around this time period (15 UTC).**

 **Artwork was found on Nanashi's Tumblr ( _Nanashiart_ ). **

**Thanks for reading! Please review, follow, fav, or anything!**


	2. Chapter 2

Quickly, Lisanna regretted the decision; they weren't even on the trains before Natsu and Gray started arguing over a foolish topic. Whatever it was, it was pointless that the two forgotten what they were fighting about in the first place. Once they made it to their destination, the station, Lisanna asked Gray to get the tickets; hoping to calm them down and get a breath of relief.

"I don't see why Gray has a stick up his ass."

Lisanna shrugged, turning her direction away and glimpsing at the nearby stores.

Consequently, he sulked at the lack of a response and came closer, poking her side. Her body impulsively reacted to the touch and she pulled back, regarding him. "Come on, say something. You've been quiet this whole time."

"Okay…?" Her voice shrilled as she spoke.

"See, you're going to mess up your vocal cords if you don't speak."

"That's impossible, I think." Her voice drifted back to her normal tone. "That would mean I couldn't talk to you then."

"See what I'm saying! Better sorry than safe!"

She could only nod at him, hoping that Gray would come quicker, before the uneasiness settled in.

Her pleas were heard when she saw Gray return with tickets in hand. Only she came without a shirt. With a prideful grin, she raised the tickets in front of Lisanna's face. "He just gave them to me free of charge. Strange, huh?"

Natsu tried to hold back, but burst out laughing, gaining a glare from Gray. "He probably ran as soon as he saw ya!"

Under her voice, Lisanna murmured, "Maybe Lucy-san taught you too much…"

Gray, with a force of a great tornado, formed a menacing aura around her. "What's that supposed to mean?"

Natsu, in breaks of his laughs, took notice of something else. "Looks like they are different sizes."

"Huh?" she stared at him in confusion before glancing down where he was gawking. And that's when she noticed she was lacking an important clothing piece. "My shirt!" She quickly retraced her steps until she found her shirt lying on the ground. Luckily no perv tried taking it for their collection. Nonetheless, it was a guy's tank top, and only vile perverts would try that.

Concealing herself back up, she returned. "Let's leave before any gossip spreads." She felt like once she came back, there's going to be a rumor of her long lost sister visiting, or whatever Jason could assemble during that period.

"Good thing the train hasn't left yet," Lisanna pronounced with an endearing grin, lifting herself onto the ramp and headed to the back of the now materializing line.

The Dragon Slayer already felt sick from contemplating it. "More like a bad thing." He could hear the damn train chanting his name; oh, make it stop!

When he boarded, he took a seat by the aisle, and Lisanna sat across from him, with Gray by the window. The window seat was like a nightmare to the Dragon Slayer; where he could actually witness they were moving. "More room to myself then," he uttered, obviously aggravated at the both of them. There goes his stomach again, and the train hasn't even started. And, at least Erza had the balls to sit by him, but there was that not-so-kind punch caused him to cringe from remembering.

"What's this I hear? Whining?" Gray boosted her hand to her ear.

Lisanna studied the ground with a slight blush, "I'm too embarrassed to."

"Same excuse, but… plus no one wants to get puked on."

He turned his head away from them, unwittingly annoyed, and slurred, "Beats sitting next to an Ice Princess."

"You wanna go?!"

"Oh no, did I upset you?"

"COME HERE, BASTARD!"

And this was the moment that Lisanna remembered why she and Natsu were brought along with Gray for this adventure, because no one else wanted to. She humbly closed her eyes and set her arms afore her, and offered, "If you guys continue to fight, I'm not buying lunch~!"

The two paused and eyed her with a hurt expression. And that was the same moment that the train decided to start, and rocked everyone inside. Natsu's stomach immediately flipped, and he stumbled onto Lisanna's lap. As soon as she became aware of it, her head turned red, and her eyes widen to an unusual extent. He tried to steady himself, and lift himself off of her, but the train made him feeble and destabilized, making the whole process further tiring and uncomfortable than it needed to be. Back in his seat now, he tenderly raised a hand and apologized, before rolling to the side and acting like a wounded animal.

During the ride, Gray started dozing off. The whole problem about her newfound body seemed to float to the back of her mind. She started perceiving these flashes of a red line, a ribbon, which curled around her finger, but pulled back to return to its original position. On her left side was cluttered with black patches that seemed to relentlessly expand.

The rest of the dream was foggy, with a dash of pink fading on the horizon. There was nothing but the black and red, just white/pink space. She pursued the red ribbon, but the course felt repetitive and nothing changed but the size of the black blotches.

Her body shook awake, and she quickly scanned the area around her. She saw that Natsu ended up taking both seats to himself, so when the train tersely stopped, he plummeted straight to the ground with a small, "Ohff!"

The voice over the intercom went on to say it was the stop for Margaret Town, and Lisanna confirmed that this was their stop when she stood up, and looked at the both of them with haste. She paused for a second, peering down at Natsu, and quickly held her skirt in place in case somebody tried to catch a gander.

"Margaret Town?" Gray recited as a question because the name didn't sound right to her, but she couldn't place her finger on it; she didn't mention Lisanna's eccentric behavior because, well, that's girls for ya.

Lisanna nodded, and reached into her jacket's pocket for a note with chicken-scratch on it. "That's where the map says to go. Here, then head east. Her house is right between here and Magnolia."

"Finally!" The pink haired hopped onto his feet; eager to get out of this hellhole. He didn't even wait for the duo, and raced outside to the platform where the others were starting to head. The two shared a trivial glance before following the juvenile boy out there, only stopping to grab their bags. When Natsu saw them, he tilted his head, "When did it start snowing?"

"Idiot," Gray rolled her eyes.

"What? I didn't know there was supposed to be snow!"

Lisanna sighed at the sight of the two of them, and only shook her head. "For tonight, we should see about an inn."

Gray nodded while glancing around; it felt like the most reasonable choice than walking into winter wonderland in the middle of the night. For her, it wouldn't be bothersome, but she couldn't say the same about the other two. The one factor that kept bugging her was that strange dream that she could barely grasp the details of.

They followed the other passengers, hoping that it would lead them to a bar, but instead it only led them to the people's houses. And subsequently the police was called. The trio quickly hightailed it out of there before it escalated anymore; it would be bad trying to explain why Gray Fullbuster is a woman without it resulting in identity fraud or such.

When they took a turn out of the suburbs, they reached a large garden with several statues, surrounding a large building with a flag pole.

Oh no.

How could she forget?

This was THEIR town.

"I think I saw an inn over there!" Gray pulled the other two away from the Lamia Scale building, before either one of them could get an idea of asking for a room there. She didn't know where she was heading; she just knew that she needed to leave this area before somebody took notice of her.

"Gray!" Lisanna shouted; her body went limp in Gray's grip, "Wha-!"

The stripper paid no attention to Lisanna's protests. The only matter that went through her mind was that this was a dangerous area; she didn't even regard that Natsu was trying to pry himself from her grip.

"Well, this is new."

Gray knew that voice from anywhere. Even if she tried running now, it was too late; he knew.

Finally, she allowed the duo go, and faced her fear. He stood there in the pathway, and held bags of groceries. "Natsu and… Lisanna?" the boy gave a quick nod to them, showing that he took note of them, but his main attention was on the raven haired. "And I'm taking a stab in the dark, but… Gray?"

"Lyon," she grunted through her teeth. It was pointless to lie to him; he would always figure it out now or later.

"Tsk," he raised an eyebrow, "Should I even question what happened here?" He looked genuinely confused as he stood there, still distant as ever, but there was also that glint of curiosity.

Natsu stepped between them, and pointed in Gray's direction. "This idiot swapped genders."

Gray was not amused at all. The girl looked like she was about to snap Natsu in half.

The bystander wiped a fake tear away. "This…is too much," he smiled and finally chuckled, "However, Lamia Scale cannot help you with…this."

"We weren't searching for help anyways."

"Why are you here then?"

Lisanna saw an opening, and spoke up, "We're searching for an inn. Just for the night."

"Winter Festival has started. All of our inns, even the guild, are filled."

Gray nodded and turned around; ready to leave this place. "Alright, guess we can get a head's start."

"Is there no other way?" Lisanna questioned with an adorable expression.

He couldn't move his eyes away from that look; he would feel guilty if he denied her. "I have a couch opened."

"Yay!" she squealed like a child.

"You're the best, dude," Natsu gave him an idiotic smile.

"Uh, that was only an offer for her." He shrugged, showing that he could care less about the other two, "And there's only one couc-"

…

Gray stared at the ceiling with the deafening snores in the background. She wished that the ceiling would collapse on top of Lyon and put annihilation to these snores. Bad thing, she noticed that he was always loud like this, even back before with Ur. She moved her arm over her eyes, hoping it would help her doze off, but instead she elbowed Lisanna, who was cramp between her and Natsu.

Somehow they managed to bundle together in this couch-bed; the only other choice was the floor, where they would be stuck in diminutive spaces and had a chance of being stepped on.

She tried inching some extra blanket on her side, but the blanket was tight already between Natsu and Lisanna, so she gave up. How could they even sleep at a time like this?

And she still couldn't believe Lyon. He wouldn't let them in unless if they took a group photo with him. Gray knew well that this was supposed to be blackmail on a later date.

Think positive.

It was a free shelter.

Well, couch.

And it wasn't exactly free…

Oh, Nevermind!

At this point, she really wanted to pull her hair out; she slept so peacefully on the train, but now it wasn't working. Maybe there was a slight chance that she would turn back into a boy again; it could be one of those every other day things, but that didn't sound good either. It was a nice thought while it lasted.

"Nuhh…"

She glanced over at Lisanna, who looked like she was having a nightmare by how she tighten her face and pulled the blanket up to her chin. Gray reached over and tried shaking her awake. "Nehh?" Lisanna said, lifting her head up, wiped the small amount of dust around her eyes, and took a moment to look around.

"You alright?" the raven haired asked, lifting up as well.

She blinked a few times, "Gray? Wher…are we?"

Lisanna must be half-awake, Gray thought. She pulled the cover back over on Lisanna, and tried to hush the matter, "Just go back to sleep." The white haired nodded a bit and obeyed, but her eyes still remained open, staring at Gray through her slits. Finally, Gray answered, "We are at Lyon's house, remember?"

"A little…" she moved her hands above the blanket and yawned, "It was a strange dream…but I can't remember it."

"Maybe you'll in the morning."

She closed her eyes again, refocusing on that surreal dream. "There were like…these lights? And I was cold…"

"Oh, sorry." Gray tried pushing back addition blanket to Lisanna's side.

"No, not that," she shook her head, "I meant, in the dream. That's all I can remember…"

Gray slid back down and went to her side, not facing Lisanna. "Just try dreaming about a dashing prince, and paste Natsu's face on it. Or the donkey." She added a yawn on purpose, but she couldn't help but smirk at her playful tease.

Lisanna gave her a minor push, "Meanie." Even though Gray wasn't turned around, she could tell that Lisanna was blushing now. This was something that Gray couldn't help but notice throughout the train ride; Lisanna's apparent crush. Gray always had a slight hunch when they were kids, but now it just seemed more…pitiful. When Lisanna wasn't blushing, she was acting uneasy in Natsu's presence.

"Nevermind, I don't want you getting another nightmare."

She moved the blanket to her mouth and gave a soft giggle. "Heh… Why are you still awake?"

"I can smell Natsu from here, and Lyon won't stop snoring."

"Maybe we shouldn't have searched more thoroughly."

"Natsu's smell will follow us to death. Don't worry about it, eventually I'm bound to fall asleep."

"Do you think… you will get back to normal?"

"Yeah," Gray nodded, "If I don't, then somebody gonna pay for it. But trust me; I'm not giving up any time soon."

"I hope you do…"

"Yea, heh, I can only imagine how Juvia will react once she sees me." The raven haired waited for a few seconds for a reply, but all she heard was light breathing. Peeking around, she saw that Lisanna fell back to slumber. "At least one of us is getting some shut eye."

The Ice Mage laid there in the darkness, watching the shadows crept along the walls until she started drifting off into dreamland.

It was a different dream than the one before, which she was appreciated, but this was still having the same level of outlandish. She stood there in a room that matched the old guildhall, for some reason, she was facing a mirror, and when she looked down, all she could see were tiny arms and soft hands. Turning around, she found herself in an assembly of the other guild members, who were different ages. Some of them were kids, others were the same age when they joined the guild, some were bald, and some were from seven years ago.

Gray didn't exactly understand what was happening, but the one occurrence that she did notice in this weird dream, was that she was a in a little girl's body, wearing a replica of Lisanna's old dress, but in different colors.

This wasn't her.

Why would she dream of something like this?

It's a dream.

She tried ripping the clothes off in a fit of rage, and the other people noticed it. Before the dream could led into anything lewd, Gray was woken up abruptly. She didn't know why, but maybe she shook herself awake.

It was morning; at least she thought it was, judging by the sunlight that almost blinded her. It shined down on top of her and Natsu, who she was currently cuddling with.

Thoughts raced through her mind, and she quickly jerked herself out of the bed.

Lyon heard her from the kitchen, and called out, "Mornin!" He poked his head our, and smooched his lips together, "Want some breakfast, honeymooners?"

A shoe hit the cabinet right behind him. If only it was two inches to the right…

"You even throw like a girl," he taunted before ducking back inside before any bonus shoes found themselves on his counter.

Natsu lifted his head from the folded blanket, which he was supposed to cover up with, but decided that he really needed to use Lisanna's and Gray's blanket instead or less he would miss something. "Breakfast?" he mumbled foggy. His mind seemed to completely ignore the honeymooners compliment, which was a relief for Gray.

He rose off of the couch and yawned; taking a small glance at Gray before heading to the kitchen. "The window's open, y'know."

It took a moment before it dawned on her. She was only wearing her trunks; somehow every other piece of article disappeared off of her body last night. Gray threw the blankets and pillows in search of her missing clothes, but it seemed like the couch magically eaten them up.

"What's on the menu?" The boy asked, seating down at the kitchen table.

Lisanna was the one cooking, and replied, "Eggs." She took a glimpse of him and snorted through her nose, and Natsu felt like he was missing something.

"Cool," he took a plate from Lyon and started grubbing the food down.

Gray walked into the kitchen with her arms crossed over her chest. Taking a plate from Lyon, she took the seat across from Natsu.

"Hey! That's my vest!" He sprayed food all over her.

"Ew!" she tried wiping it away, and simply stated, "Desperate times call for desperate measures." She couldn't find her clothes, so she took a pair from Lisanna and Natsu's vest.

"My, that looks good on you," Lisanna complimented when she turned around; not fazed at all that Gray took without asking, unlike Natsu.

Natsu didn't seem pleased at all. It was his vest, but at the same time, it was on Gray's body; he wanted to vomit. "You can keep. Think of it as a gift."

Lyon inhaled deeply because of them. They were like kids, but Gray was what one may call his "brother/sister". He set a steel key down on the table, "Not expecting you to clean up afterwards, but lock it once you leave."

"Are you sure?" Lisanna asked.

"Faster the lovers leave the better for me."

Once again, Natsu did not catch it, but the other two sure did. Lisanna chuckled once more, while Gray tried elbowing Lyon, but miserably failed. The Dragon Slayer kept shoving eggs down his mouth, and Lyon's eyebrow twitched; he left the house before he could get further annoyed. And Gray threw a napkin at Natsu, "Such a mess."

"You shouldn't be telling yourself that this early in the morning."

If someone were to die at this moment, inside of this house, using the kitchen knives, the blame would be placed on Lyon, right?

Gray surely hoped so.

After they were finished with their plates, Gray tried searching for her missing clothes once more, but came up empty.

 **This story was received more than I thought it would be. The summary was changed somewhat as well. I've been thinking about updating on Thursdays and Sundays, but depending on how well the Beta Reader's schedule is and winter break has ended, so my time may be consumed elsewhere, I may keep it as it is. If there's a sudden update on Thursday, then you know why.**

 **New Beta Reader:** Phonenix, **Originally requested by:** Natsu013, **Artwork:** Nanashi's Tumblr ( _Nanashiart_ )

 **Nathekat:** Thank you! I've been worried about this story since I haven't done this before, plus, it took a lot of time, so it's great to hear!

 **Rougish:** Just imagine if Lyon was in the mix... it would be complete chaos, good thing he isn't. Both Gray and Lisanna will get their fun with Natsy, and thanks for reading!

 **AsDarknessSpreads** : We will see about Gratus, since, well, Gray is still trying to get over the whole genderswitch thing, and even after that, who knows. But for NaLi, currently, it's one-sided and this is probably has set the limit for how much involvement her crush has in the story.. We will just have to wait for the future chapters.

 **Thanks for everyone reading my first multi-chapter length story! I spent ten months in making this, so I'm overjoyed to see how well it's doing. Please feel free to follow, favorite, review, PM, or whatever; I love answering reviews and seeing what changes I should make!**


	3. Chapter 3

After gathering the rest of their equipment from Lyon's house, with the exception of a missing outfit, the trio headed out into the forest to begin their journey. From what little they saw of the festival, it was chaotic and it was probably good timing on their part to leave while the roads were quiet. The wind started picking up, and blew falling snowflakes across their faces. It was going to get worse as they moved away from civilization and into the Gazors; a rocky terrain that rested between Margaret and Magnolia.

Natsu snuffled.

"Wimp," Gray taunted as she hurried past him; she was more focused on the path ahead of them.

"Says the one who goes cowering once the flowers start to bloom."

Gray stopped in her path and looked back at the idiot. "What was that, Flamebrain?" She raised her fist and punched a nearby tree, trying to look imitating, but it failed miserably on Natsu.

"Come on guys," Lisanna tried breaking what was already looking like an argument, "You don't have to battle for my attention~!" The joke fell flat on the both of them, causing her to look at the ground and mouthed, "...pssh..i thought that was funny…"

"Flowers have thicker skin than you!"

"Pot calling the kettle black, wouldn't you say?"

"Better than being an Icestripper."

"That...has nothing to do with this, Squinty."

"Droopy Eyes."

"Flame Princess."

"Perv."

"Tabasco Idiot."

"Boobs McKe-"

By this point, the two were already going at it with a cloud of dust surrounding them that only an arm or a head would pop out. Lisanna watched from the distance and sighed, wishing that Erza was around to stop the boys. Clearing her voice, she loudly whispered, "What would Erza-san do if she was here now…"

"Wha-" Natsu stopped and the cloud started to dispel, showing the two boys were at a standstill with their current attacks blocked by the other.

Gray glanced around, searching for the redhead, but she didn't see her. "Where's Erza?"

"Oh, she's not here," Lisanna answered plainly, "But we better hurry before she knows." The other two went grim as they thought of the Titan showing up after hearing the news from the others in the guild. They both knew she would be angry at them for being slow and incompetent, so they finally gave up, and joined back with with the white haired.

When Natsu sneezed again, Gray kept the comments to herself and pressed her hand on his forehead like how she saw other people do. Shaking her head, she said, "I can't tell the difference."

"Oh shut it," Natsu waved her hand off, and tried getting back into their normal pace, but Lisanna and Gray stood still.

Lisanna gently walked closer to Natsu, and held her hands out. "Natsu-san, I think you're getting sick. It may be best to take you back to the city."

"I'm not going back now," he shook his head.

Gray mouthed, "Flamebrain…"

"What? We're already this far, and if you haven't noticed, we don't know if we're on a time limit."

"Whatever," Gray shook her head and went back walking next to the lad. It was pointless trying to talk to him, but she should've already known that. She glanced at Lisanna and motioned her to keep moving.

Though they didn't say anything since the journey began, it was slowly becoming obvious that Natsu was slowing them down. Lisanna pulled them to a halt and Natsu was the only one who argued against it. Gray stayed out of it, but that was enough to show how she felt about it.

By now, Natsu was already wrapped in any loose articles they had in their bags, but his cold was persistent and the others refused to leave. Sulking, he kept to himself by building a fire with his own flames in the center of the area, and sitting down on a broken log. Gray rolled out the bedfolds on the ground, and anchored a tart over it with stakes. And Lisanna started cooking a small supper over the burning branches.

She stared deeply into the fire and picked up the pot with oven mitts. "Soon, everything will be back to normal." She poured the soup into the tiny dishes and handed them down the line. Gray took her time eating and watched how Lisanna kept glimpsing over at the Dragon Slayer, who was hastily devouring the broth.

"We can't be that far away from her house now," Gray uttered, cooling down the liquid in her spoon. They have already been traveling for several days and it was becoming clear that it was way further than anyone of them thought.

"Yeah," Lisanna nodded, "Tomorrow, I think I'll scout ahead."

Natsu abruptly reacted to this by jolting out of his seat and spilling some of his broth around him. "We're going together."

Lisanna's eyes gently drifted to the ground, and held her bowl close to her knees. She nibbled on the bottom lip, until she said, "I'm faster if I'm allowed to race ahead with my magic, that way I can reach Porlyusica-sama and have her get ready for your arrival or find a clear path instead of risking it. Like you've said, we don't know if there's a time limit."

"I can endure the weather though," Gray raised a point.

"Which is why I'm leaving you with Natsu-san."

Natsu shook his head, "We're not leaving each other. That's final."

None of them really wanted to bicker about this, but the argument was kept alight. Despite his efforts, Lisanna settled on her decision. Tomorrow morning, she would leave early and the other two would follow behind.

After cleaning up after supper, the three headed back to the poorly-made tent. Natsu slept in the middle of the two warm bodies, while Gray faced away from him, remembering what happened on the first night. Just the thought of it alone was almost enough to make her blush, or vomit, or both.

With the winds howling against the tent flaps, she wrapped the pillow around her head and tried blocking the sounds out. Her eyes grew heavy and she started dozing off.

It was the same dream again, with the red lines that whisked her into a dark patch, but now it was reachable unlike before. She reached out into the abyss and tried grasping for it, but something was stopping her from clenching the red ribbon down. And then there were voices that swelled in her ears; she couldn't understand what was happening.

"Natsu-kun, is she asleep?" It was Lisanna's voice that disturbed Gray's sleep.

There was rustling of blankets until she heard Natsu said, "Looks like she's asleep, why?"

"She went out fast," the girl paused, bunching up the blanket in her hands. "It's been a long while since it was just us three. It feels...well, nostalgic hanging out with you two."

"Yeah," the Dragon Slayer coughed in his blanket.

There was another pause before she said something again, "Gray-san is so strange as a girl, but it's kinda cute. Like she's crossdressing."

"He's going to be back to his normal self."

Gray tried to shuffle her head under the blanket some more, so she couldn't hear their voices, but the other two didn't seem to notice at all, and kept talking. "What would you do if she can't turn back?"

"I'll make sure that he does. He's not Gray when he's like this. It's just...weird, y'know."

"It was never your fault."

There was some silence before Natsu continued. "I will regret it if he doesn't get back to normal. Everyday, he will be like that, blaring in our face that we failed somehow. Maybe I am slowing everyone down. Maybe the cure was right under our noses and we never knew. It was funny at first, but… it shouldn't be permanent."

"None of us was involved in this curse. If Gray-san gets mad, she will have to go through me first, but I don't think she will ever blame you." There was some tossing of blankets and a faint snore.

"Lisanna?" Natsu harshly whispered, turning around to look at her. "Oh… you fell asleep… goodnight then…"

Both of you are idiots, Gray thought as she closed her eyes one last time.

It wasn't their fault she was in this mess, and she wouldn't take her anger out at them. They were her friends, and they were helping her when they didn't even need to. Maybe she can't turn back, but she wasn't going to blame her guild members for that. She would just search for different options. Even she didn't even know how this curse happened, so it was probably something she wasn't even apart of.

Idiots…

…

"Take good care of him, Gray-chan!" Lisanna bowed in front of the other girl.

"I will kill you, and merciless slaughter your body."

"Just say yes."

"If you say chan again…"

Lisanna sweetly smiled at the girl, and chuckled, "Farewell~!" SHe whisked away into the snow skirts of the mountain, leaving the two childhood rivals behind.

Gray's smile twitched as she heard the moaning behind her. When they first woke up that morning, Natsu was completely immobilized. The weather had gotten him pretty bad last night, and it was only getting worse. There was no way for them to follow behind Lisanna, but now the animal shifter had more of a reason to get to the medic. They talked about taking him back to the city while Lisanna took care of their quest, but Gray doubted that she could trail back while carrying the sickly boy without any protection. Meaning, they were stuck there until Natsu looked better.

The first thing that came to her mind was to relight the fire from last night. Gathering sticks that littered around the area, she was able to start a small flame that grew fierce. Hopefully she was doing this right, because to her, this was always unnecessary.

After a while, she took a branch that burned unrelentingly and took it to the Dragon Slayer. 'Breakfast," she tried copying Mira's sweet tone, but it came off unearthly.

"Whhut?" he rolled his head to face her and groaned once more.

"Do you want me to burn the tent?"

He tried shaking his head, but the stick was pushed into his hand. Within seconds, the fire was warped inside of his mouth like he was spurting it up. His body seemed to revive with color, but it was only a mere difference. Raising her hand, she brought another stick to him until he had his stomach's fill. He nodded thanks and laid back down.

The girl swooped back inside and looked at his limp form with a disgruntled look. Though this happened since they were children, it was never this bad. She seated herself close to him and started messing with his hair to give her something to do, while he didn't seem to mind. She could feel the sweat that covered his hairline, and doubted that this was his averaged flu.

"Lisanna said that she will be back by tonight if she can't find anything."

"I trust her."

Do you trust me? Gray wanted to say, but chose not to. That conversation from last night still rang in her ears. "You know you will always be the same Flamebrain to me, right?"

"Yea?" it was obvious that he had zero clue where that statement came from. "And you will always be the Perv, I guess?"

She was still wearing his shirt from when they left. They underpacked for this journey, and all leftover clothes went to the Dragon Slayer. "You're actually not so bad afterall."

"Is that suppose to mean something?"

"Or I may be saying this because I'm a girl now, I don't really know." Now she was mostly talking to herself than listening to any of his replies. She felt like she needed to say something to kill any doubts that Natsu had about their friendship. They may fight, but it didn't mean that Gray saw everything as his fault. Maybe they did bicker too much. "It won't ever be the same, but sometimes that's that, and there's nothing anyone can do about it. I mean, so far, being a girl isn't so different. At least from what I can tell."

Natsu shook his head, pulled the hair away from her fingers, and gave a throaty couch. "You're going back to normal."

"Sorry about how I act towards you, it wasn't your fault."

It was the same thing that Lisanna told him last night, and made a vein in his forehead twitch. He abruptly turned around to face her with that determined stared that they always associated him with. "Don't doubt us, or me."

A smile tugged at her lips, "Oh, shut it."

But he didn't seem as relieved as she was. He held her stare until he finally pounded weakly on the ground, and laid back down with the last of his strength. Having both of his close friends saying the same thing wasn't motivating at all. He felt like they were trying to pity him for being weak. "Things will go back to normal, just watch! Team Natsu will reunite and we'll go back to taking missions."

Gray traced her finger on the bedfold, "I think Lisanna wants to join."

Natsu's face didn't seem to change when she said that. Gajeel and Wendy would join his group all the time, and he never made a big deal out of it, so the same would be applied to Lisanna as well. "If she wants to, then all she has to do is come with."

"She's a girl, you know."

"So is Erza, I think."

The raven haired snickered at that bit, "Erza is probably the worst comparison, aim for Levy or Wendy."

"Levy is the leader of her own team, and Wendy goes from one to the next group."

"What I'm trying to say is that Lisanna's bashful."

Natsu's face still had that lost look. "And?"

"With girls, you have to make the first move." Gray took a moment and almost slapped herself. She didn't have the qualifications to talk about why girls do what they do, and she had no reason to meddle in their relationship. But for now, it seemed that Natsu brought it. She felt a tang of envious of their situation compared to hers. Taking his hair back into her fingers, she started a small hum.

Neither one of them knew how much time passed, but they were starting to worry about Lisanna.

The wind howled stronger than last time. They pressed against each other to rid the numbness that came from lying on the icy ground. The trip that the other Fairy Tail members went on should've been over by now. Macao and Cana would tell the others about what happened, and they would all wait for any news.

Gray felt strange that she hasn't thought about Juvia at all during this whole trip. She can only imagine how the water girl would've reacted once she heard the news, but Gray's mind didn't stay on this topic for long. It felt out of place just thinking about that now. Her mind has been filled with this whole genderswitch and her companions, that she didn't even think about the moment of peace she had away from the stalker. Of course, Gray was only calling her a stalker jokily. Juvia was just one of those stubborn friends of hers.

"Ever wished that we could go back in time?"

"You mean before you went from balls to boobs?"

"I meant when we were kids."

"Why?" Natsu stuck his lip to one side, "It's not like anything has changed, but we got more friends."

"It just seemed simpler back then. You hated me, I hated you, and Erza didn't give a crap. No in-betweens."

"If you're doing something weird with my hair, please know I will try to murder you once I get better." He already had Lisanna for that, and he didn't need Gray as well. "I like how things are now. We got new friends, new challenges, and everyone is back where they should be." The last part was talking about Lisanna and Mest.

Gray couldn't argue that; there were too many new guild members that would've she would've missed.

The moon shined down on the surface, and the two fell asleep when they were lying.

 **Maybe it's a good thing that I'm not doing this on Thursday, since I am an hour late with this one. I should've done this either in-school or completely in winterbreak, because man, I wasn't ready for the drastic change, thinking that I had enough time to complete it. Anyways, I'm starting to run out of material that I pre-written. Yeah... I spent ten months on the first two chapters, and there was another section where Gray and Natsu was hanging out with Sherry and Yuka, but that was cut out because of story changes. So...there goes a good five months.  
**

 **Still, I'm still hoping for six chapters total in this series, so this is the halfway point. Things are starting to look grim in the relationship, but it's Fairy Tail, right? Friendships always prevail! Also, I can't be the only one that ships Lisanna with Rogue, Natsu and Mest?  
**

 **Edited by:** Phonenix **Fanart by:** Nanashi

 **NatheKat:** Heh, I really appreciate this! This is my first Fairy Tail story, so I really want everything to be as close to perfect as possible!

 **Natsu013:** Thank you, and I hope you're enjoying everything so far!

 **AsDarknessSpreads:** Well, we will see about that soon :D I kinda wanted to expand his parts (maybe even making it a love square with him included) but that's like wayyy to much. Oh well, at least I got to add him in somehow.


	4. Chapter 4

The morning sun shined down on the snow sheet that covered the land. A small patch of flakes positioned themselves on top of an isolated tent. When the person inside moved the opening, the snow fell down and splashed at her face.

She was not expecting to hear a chuckle coming near the campfire. Nor was she expecting to see Natsu was standing without a hint of yesterday's sickness. She reached through the snow and peeked around his shoulder in case she just woke up in the middle of an invasion, "Natsu?"

"Oofph!" Natsu turned around with a piece of burnt meat between his lips. Holding up his finger, he swallowed and explained that woke up without that fever from yesterday.

The girl nodded and took her seat next to him, and grabbed herself a piece of that salted beef. For one thing, she quickly noticed, it was completely ashes, but she chose to drain it down with some water. It was something, and it would be wasteful if she coughed it up, Gray told herself as she finished.

That's when she felt something warm touch her shoulder. She rashly turned her head to face Natsu, who did seem to notice, and merely continued eating. Seeing as how she should not care, she didn't move away from his touch. She was a boy. A boy wouldn't get flustered over something like this, or would she? Usually if something like this happened, Gray would've made a big deal out of it and badger him into their usual bickering, but she already lost her chance to harp on this.

"Whut's wrung?"

Trying to avoid his question, she shook her head and this was when she noticed that Natsu seemed genuinely concern. Was that the right word? All she knew was that his jasper eyes was searching for any hint of trouble in her posture. Tensing up, she looked back to the fire, and shifted her shoulder away from his.

What was with her mind today? She was overanalyzing every single detail, and it drove her mad. Why did Natsu have to be so close? Why was he concerned? Shouldn't she be the one concerned, because he was the one sick? Her mind kept emphasizing this point, but the only times she ever saw this side of him was in battle. He just feels powerless in her situation; nothing more, nothing less; just the way it should be.

Deciding she needed a breath, she stood up, caught his eye, and emotionally said, "Bathroom." He only looked at her with indifference and went back to his meal. Of course he didn't want to see Gray doing her business, so it was the best option to step away from him.

The boy stayed in the same place. He knew once Gray got back, that they needed to pack the camp up to start heading into the Gazors and, finally, to their destination. They were already days behind, and it was starting to unnerve him.

And that's when he heard a scream.

His plate clashed down onto the ground, and a line of footsteps was created from his campsite into the snowy fields that rose to his waist level. That was Lisanna's scream; there was no other explanation or doubt. Sweat beads formed at the base of his forehead, and the palms of his hands. Sniffing the wind, he followed the scent until he saw several colors that clashed against the white snow, and Lisanna stood between them.

The girl was pressing her hands together, but it was a failure. She swiftly turned around and ran from the creatures, but they followed. When she saw Natsu on top of the hill, her lips formed into a small, hopeful smile, but it was quickly replaced with unrelenting concerned. She dove behind him, into the winter's ocean, and he jumped onto a rock that stood behind the creatures and Lisanna.

"Got a problem?" he cracked his fist and looked at the three enemies, "Cuz I'm all fired up!" This was exactly what he needed after that sick day.

Lisanna stayed in her place and only saw hints of the battle, like the smoke that rose, or screams from the yeti-type creatures. She bit her bottom lip, wishing that she could've helped in anyway, but at the moment, she was powerless.

And then the fighting came to a piercing silence.

Natsu slid through the snow, right where she stationed herself. "Let's head back," he held out his hand and jerked her back to her feet. "What happened?"

"Ambushed," she bit her bottom lip, "I... I can't shapeshift. I can't use my magic." She glanced down at her pale hands and slid them back into her pocket. When she needed them the most, it wasn't there for her. She wasn't able to defend herself against those fiends. She stopped herself before Natsu started worrying, and placed a forced smile on her face. "Thank you."

Was she also affected like Gray was? How gender swapping and magic absorption was fall into the same category was beyond her; all she knew, the only time she felt like this was when she was in Edolas, and that wasn't something she wished to return to.

When Lisanna neared the makeshift camp, she noted how quiet it was. Crossing her arms around her chest, she glanced at Natsu and asked, "W-Where's Gray-san?"

"Bathroom," he rubbed the back of his head, "She can't take that long though."

Lisanna gulped and checked inside of the tent, but there was no sign of Gray in there either. What happened to Gray?

…

Moments prior…

As Gray was walking down the ice covered trench, she held onto pillars of ice that stopped her from slipping to the bottom. Holding her weight against the sides of the walls, she managed her way out of the nature obstacle and continued her path to an unknown destination. All she had planned in her mind was that she needed a breath of fresh air away from that camp, away from Natsu. There was a fluttery feeling that swooshed through her stomach that she did not like whenever her mind recalled anything related to the fire breather.

Before she even knew it, she was facing a frozen lake that hid in the shadow of an overreaching cliff; the same direction that she just came from. When she placed her hand on the sheet of ice, another layer magically appeared and thickened that certain spot. Gathering her courage, and mild curiosity, she stepped on the ice and headed inwards. She needed a week point in the glass.

And then she found it. Using an icicle that formed within her hand, she plunged it in the middle of the area and cracks began appearing.

What she was looking at was not her face.

Someone else was looking back at her with this curved face and emerald, smitten eyes; eyes that had drawn her closer to the open crack. Her blue locks fell past her ears, and dipped into the icy waters, and the mirrored person came closer.

And then the ice cracked under her pressure, and she was pulled within its depths.

Water rushed around her, and her vision swelled with darkness. Her hand reached outwards, in a direction that she thought was the upwards, and hammered on the ice sheet. Her lungs were losing breath, and felt pressured with the water that swelled inside.

"Gray!"

That was his voice, wasn't it?

"Gray-chan?! Wai-! Look!"

The girl could hear it all. The footsteps that hammered along the surface that came closer and closer where that was all she could hear; those plummeting footsteps.

Her mind felt draft as she was pulled out of the water.

When she opened her eyes, she saw these faces that broke out on their faces. Concern. Why?

Natsu shouldn't be looking that way.

No, he was always supposed to be smiling just like the goof he was. What happened to their argument that never led anywhere other than them butting heads again?

And Lisanna was supposed to have that small grin that she couldn't hide for the life of her. When she found something funny and strained her lips from showing that she was smiling.

"Gray!" He shook her shoulders.

Her eyes felt heavy. She could feel the cold winds freezing her hair. All she wanted to do was close them…

Yeah, that sounded like a good idea.

Maybe once she opened them again, they would be back to normal. Natsu and Lisanna would go back to their own naïve self, and Gray would be just like before, with a manly six-pack and a smirk that sent the ladies brawling.

 **Sometimes, just sometimes, I wish that I didn't promise stuff because I always mess it up in the end. I know, it's been two weeks with any updates, but I'm getting back on track. I'm trying to at least. We are heading into the end soon...so be prepared.**

 **Artwork: Nanashi (link in profile, or find through tumblr)**

 **Thanks for all of the follows! Favorites! Reviews! They keep me grounded on this story, because man... I really do need that sometimes... or all the time... Oh well, I hope everyone is enjoying where this story is heading because I kinda hate how it's episodic, where an idea only comes into play for one chapter. But, that was the point of cutting the chapters where they were, so I could head into new ideas.**


	5. Chapter 5

When Gray opened her eyes again, and glanced around, she was fully certain that she was still in a dream. There was a ceiling, and walls, and even a fireplace with a fire in it. And there was another odd feeling, she felt warm. This whole scene cracked her up.

Natsu and Lisanna both noticed the noise and went to her side.

"Heh, this is much, much better," she took hold of the blanket and wrapped herself moreso.

"You're finally awake," Lisanna cheered.

Now Gray was finally readjusting; she wasn't expecting to hear Lisanna's voice. She lifted back up and glanced at the two of them, "Huh?"

Natsu was wrapped in a blanket and was wearing somebody else's clothes. He looked drained, compared to Lisanna. The other was still wearing the same outfit that Gray last saw her in. Things weren't connecting in Gray's mind at all. Did she fall asleep or something?

Natsu placed a coffee mug on the nightstand that was next to her. "We found you in the lake," he added, "Almost dead."

"I…I almost drowned?"

Lisanna tried using a lighter approach. "You had us worried there for a moment, but everything's better now!"

Gray dared a peek down her body. Well, not everything was better, since she was still a girl, but she was still alive. That must have meant something, right? Her mind was still unable to remember what happened, but what they said did make sense to her. The one thing that she remembered was Natsu's face at that time. He was worried; worried about her. She didn't think she could get that image out of her mind.

The two of them stood over her, waiting for her to say something. The silence broke when Lisanna took something out of her pocket and placed it on Gray's lap. It was a measly, little toy.

"Is that…"

"We just need to figure out how it works." Lisanna pretty much confirmed that that object was the cause of this whole curse. "Not only did it switch your gender, but… I lost my powers. I can only imagine how it affected others in the guild, unless if it's only limited to us two. We looked at the toy before, but nothing made sense."

"Wait, you're affected too?"

Lisanna nodded.

"WHY DID I GET THE WORST END OF THE STICK?!"

"Well, actually, I would say it's the better end," Natus shrugged, "Compared to your former self."

"I have no patience for you."

For now, they decided to rest for the night. As it turns out, Lisanna found an abandoned cabin in the mountains. They didn't really know much about the former owners of the house as it looked like the necessaries and personal items were taken, and only extra items remained. Luckily, there was still food in their packs and Lisanna made use of their kitchen. Natsu searched the household for blankets. This left Gray by herself.

She didn't feel strong, not after the whole experience, but she didn't want to stay in bed. Behind the curtain, she saw the snowflakes forming along the wooden beams. It was more subdued than in the mountains.

Forcing herself from the bed, she walked towards the balcony curtain and pushed the door to the side, and sat on the wooden bench-step. She felt the tingles of the small snowflakes, but it wasn't the same as before. It felt nice on her skin, especially since it presented no danger other than a cold. She held her hand out and collected the fallen snowflakes within her hand. She formed a small layer of ice across her palm to avoid the snowflakes from melting in order to closely examined the flake.

It was a pretty night with the winds so calm, and the snow was peasant. She allowed the blanket to fall back, leaving her shoulders bare for snow to pile.

Natsu stood at the doorway and watched as her body heaved with each breath. Unlike the others, he had nothing to do and caught her out of bed. When he tried to slip through the doorway with piles of blankets she finally noticed him.

"Natsu?"

"Yea?" He took a seat aside of her.

"Oh…nothing…" She faced forward once more, but couldn't pay attention to the snowflakes anymore as she could only focus on his presence.

He didn't dare to try making conversation as he only wished to stare at the snow with the woman. It was enjoyable without the usual banter, or maybe not. She liked his presence in either situation.

Then she felt the familiar touch from before; him pressing against her with his shoulder, but there was more weight behind it. Before, it was just a casually touch because they were sitting close, but now, he was actually leaning on her; relaxing in her presence. Or was she overthinking it again? Shouldn't she be used to his touches? She could vaguely remember that he didn't care about personal space, and some of their banter was caused because of it. Maybe if she wasn't like this, then she would start fighting with him like always. Or maybe she just didn't have the power at the moment.

There was a small spark that came from the fireplace and landed on the stone flooring. Natsu glanced at the fire with hunger in his eyes. He then turned those hungry eyes towards her, and she felt herself backing up some. He leaned in closer, placing more weigh onto her. His breath felt hot against her skin. She didn't like this closeness. She didn't know what he was thinking about, and it made her afraid.

Gray broke the silence, "I don't know why I went out on the lake." Nothing inside of her mind made sense, especially not that force that compelled her. Her eyes hazily fell onto her palms here she started envisioning the red ribbon again. She rubbed her eyes as she thought it's due to the trauma or sleepiness that this is appearing again, but the red ribbon stayed. She tried pulling her fingers around it, but the ribbon just passed through unyielding.

"In a daze?" he questioned. It was unlike him to be concerned about the details. "Idiot. You were suppose to stay at the camp."

She nodded and noticed that there was a red ribbon around Natsu as well. But his ribbon was tattered apart, and half of it disappeared outside of the doorway. Her ribbon was in a pile that tangled at her feet, and mixed with Natsu's ribbon where one couldn't tell the two ribbons apart. She shook her head and sat back onto the bed. Natsu corrected himself now that she wasn't supporting his body anymore.

"What about that toy that Lisanna showed us?"

"It was a reward that I gotten from an old hag. She only told me it was a treasure that people will hunt me down for. She made a comment that it will make my life align easier. But what the fuck is that supposed to mean?"

"And we are supposed to believe the toy is the cause of this?"

"You got boobs, and Lisanna lost her powers about the same time I got the toy."

"Why are we affected? Why did it cause different effects? What if I spin it, would it affect you guys?"

"Lisanna tried it and it looks like it's a one-use item."

Gray nodded. When she saw the toy earlier, it didn't look like it had any mana left inside. "Was you thinking about us when you were playing with the spinner?"

Natsu said no, and Gray decided to stop asking anymore questions. It was apparent that Lisanna and Natsu already went through this same discussion, and there was nothing more to add onto the topic until they could receive new information from someone who is more of an expert, Porlyusica. And they would surely arrive to her land tomorrow, and this curse will be broken.

"Hey Gray," Natsu looked back at her. "I've been denying it, but you're different. You're like Lisanna and Juvia now."

"I never knew you saw a difference between guys and gals. I'm shocked, moron." It took Gray a moment to form a reply, as she was not expecting that comment, but she needed to get the mood back to normal. It as unlike Natsu to be serious. Did the whole drowning thing finally ground Natsu?

"I don't like this," he admitted. She felt the same. "You know, I used to look up to you when I first joined. For a tiny moment." He chuckled softly, "Now I don't even know what to think about you."

Natsu gave a slight shrug of his shoulders and walked outside of the room. For a strange reason, Lisanna stood to the side of the doorway. Gray saw that hopeless look in Lisanna's eyes before she closed the door behind Natsu.

What just happened?

 **Wow! Ain't you guys surprised about this update? The thing is, I never thought I would open this back up, but then I realized I did have a lot written for this chapter and just finished it.**

 **Sadly, I don't really know what I was aiming for when I first wrote this, as it has been a while and I didn't write my exact thoughts why this was here and that was here. Or maybe I was correcting my past mistakes? Maybe I just made some new ones?**

 **Like, I written that the trip to the mountains was to get the toy (a wind up, when I mean to say it was a spinner toy), when their quest was actually suppose to go to Porlyusica's house in the first place, and the toy was forgotten until this chapter.**

 **Then I had it where they went back to Lyon's house now that they have the toy, which made no sense (I think my original idea was that Lyon joined them at Porlyusica's house for no reason, but I needed this night to develop the feelings so the climax can happen soon). So I had to remove his bits.**

 **No important:** Uh. I don't know economics on the clothing industry in Fairy Tail, but… 2 bucks?

 **guest** : It is? I think? After this chapter, I'm pretty sure it is.

 **Guest:** It continued!

 **Christopher Dragkrow:** Let me just say it's different. Gotta give Natsu the edge for romance, when I'm used to the other way around.

 **NatheKat:** I'm so sorry for the wait.

 **ichika aono:** Yeah, Fem!Gray is a bit different. I like writing him as the pushy one, but had to have Natsu become the pushy one.

 **Rougish:** Thank you, I try keeping the chapters around the same length. Or depends on the events.


End file.
